Next month Jim Malley turns 69, which means he’s one year away from retirement after 50 years in the golf business.
For this week’s edition of People of Collingwood we spoke with Malley, 68, membership and facility services manager at Blue Mountain Golf and Country Club.
Q: Where did you grow up?
A: I was born and raised in Collingwood. My parents owned Malley’s Cigar Store, which was on the corner of Hurontario and Second St., where the sushi restaurant is now.
It was my parents’ building back in the ’60s and ’70s. It was a confectionery store in the front and a restaurant in the back. It was quite a busy spot.
I started working for them when I was eight years old. We had this massive popcorn machine and we would roll it out onto the street on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday. I’d stand on an old wooden Coca-Cola case and sell popcorn for 10 cents a bag. The smell of the popcorn would waft down the street and it was just like a magnet.
I learned to deal with the public at a very young age.
Q: What schools did you attend growing up here?
A: I went to Senior Public School and Collingwood Collegiate Institute. I played a lot of sports like hockey, football, baseball, golf and soccer.
Q: After you graduated, where did life take you?
A: I went to Ryerson (now Toronto Metropolitan University) in the architecture program.
I ended up with a bleeding ulcer in my first year and I had to quit.
At the time, my sister lived right across the street from Tan O’Shanter Golf Course in Toronto, owned by Metro Parks. She had been taking golf lessons from the assistant golf pro there the previous summer, and she remembered him saying he was going to be leaving and the head pro was looking for somebody to work for him the next summer.
She suggested I contact him to see if I could get a job for the summer and then I could figure out what I wanted to do from there.
He and I hit it off instantly and, about halfway through my first year, I realized that was what I wanted to do, dealing with the public in this kind of environment.
Metro Parks owns five golf courses, and they moved the golf pros around, so I was moved to Humber Valley Golf Course in Toronto.
In 1985, I had an opportunity to move to Lambton Golf and Country Club in Toronto, which is a very high-end golf course. I worked there for three years. My wife and I also ran the curling program there because that was the way they could keep you employed year-round.
In those days, there was a five-year apprenticeship program you would go through to become a golf professional through the Canadian Professional Golf Association. At the end of five years you would write a three-hour exam and then you were qualified, and that’s what I did.
Q: What brought you back to town?
A: In 1988, Cranberry Resort was looking for a golf pro because they had just finished building the golf course.
The head professional at Lambton told me he heard there was an opportunity in Collingwood and he asked me if I wanted to go back. He said I’d always have a job there, but he encouraged me to go for an interview.
Their office was at Yonge and St. Clair, and on a Friday afternoon my wife and I were planning to come up to Collingwood for the weekend, so I told her I was just going to drop off my resume because we were double parked on St. Clair Ave.
I told her I was just going to run upstairs, drop it off and I’d be right back.
I went upstairs and the lady at the desk asked if I wanted to meet Bill Stevenson, who owned Cranberry. I wasn’t really dressed for it and just had a resume in my hand.
He came out. He had heard about me. He wanted to show me the project.
Three hours later I walked out of the interview, and my wife said, 'what the hell?'
Bill wanted me to meet his partner and come back on Monday morning. When I went back, it was another three-hour interview to ask my opinions about the recreation programs.
They offered me a job to run the entire recreation program. I didn’t know anything about marinas, tennis courts, horseback riding or kids programs.
Bill said, you’ll learn, and you have to start next week.
I came up here and ran recreation programming at Cranberry for three seasons.
In 1990, they had just opened the newer part of the clubhouse at Blue Mountain Golf and Country Club. I was a junior here; my parents were one of the original debenture holders of this golf club.
To have an opportunity to come back in management for this golf course was an incredible opportunity and kind of a dream come true.
They were looking for a manager for the golf club, and I told them I knew exactly who they were looking for.
I was hired, and here I am 34 years later.
Q: Do you have plans to retire?
A: Next year, when I turn 70, I’ve told the board that I’m going to step away from the position. I’ll probably still work in the pro shop in the summer for the head professional here and then go south in the wintertime and enjoy life with my wife.
I owe that to my wife. Ellie has been a Godsend because she has understood all the challenges there are in doing this job properly and she’s allowed me to do it.
Q: What wisdom would you impart on someone starting out in the golf and recreation industry?
A: Listen to people.
You have to be passionate about what you believe in. As you gain experience, you’ll learn what works and what doesn’t work.
You have to be patient.
When I worked at Lambton, one of the first things I was taught was, when someone drives into the driveway, they’re coming to escape their problems. They’re not here to experience more. It’s our job to make sure they have an enjoyable golf experience every time they step on the property.
We don’t advertise. People come to us wanting to join the golf club. We have 75 people on a waiting list.
Q: What are your hobbies?
A: I spend time with my family as much as I possibly can.
I like doing community work. I’m on the board for the Collingwood Sports Hall of Fame. I’ve been involved in a lot of programs in the community, like with E3 and Collingwood Big Brothers, Big Sisters.
I like to stay active, but I like to relax. This is a very demanding job because everyone wants your time. I enjoy it so it’s fine, but by the time I leave here sometimes I just want to relax a bit.
One of the beautiful things about living here is you can walk the beach and it’s like you’re in Florida for the night. You can bike, or hike, or so many different things here that just allow you to enjoy the atmosphere of the community.
Growing up in Collingwood, we always knew it was going to become what it has become – it was just a matter of when was it going to be discovered.
Q: Is there anything else you’d like people in Collingwood to know about you?
A: I thoroughly enjoy being a citizen of Collingwood. I’m a past president of the chamber of commerce, so working on behalf of the community is something I enjoy. I like seeing it grow.
Collingwood will always be entrenched in me because of my background.
It’s a fabulous place to be.
For our feature People of Collingwood, we speak with interesting people who are either from or are contributing to the Collingwood community in some way, letting them tell their own stories in their own words. This feature runs on CollingwoodToday every weekend. If you’d like to nominate or suggest someone to be featured in People of Collingwood, email [email protected].
